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It was a big night on Sunday for South Korean dark comedy thriller film “Parasite”, winning an unprecedented Best Picture and Best Original Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards held last night. The film mades history by being the first film to receive both accolades at the Oscars.

The film, which tells the story of an impoverished family who infiltrate the home of a wealthy family, also won best director for Bong Joon-ho, who also won best original screenplay with co-writer Han Jin Won.

Sam Mendes’s war film “1917”, which many predicted to win win top awards after its wins at the Baftas, Golden Globes and the Producers Guild Awards, won for its visual effects, sound mixing and cinematography.

Joker, which received the most nominations with 11, won two, including an expected Best Lead Actor for Joaquin Phoenix and Best Original Score for Hildur Guðnadóttir.

The Academy Awards ceremony was once again conducted without a host. It was held at Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.

Sam Mendes’ “1917” was the big winner at the recently concluded British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards (BAFTA), winning seven awards including Best Film and Best Director. The win also put the film in a strong position to win big at the upcoming Oscar awards, where the film is nominated in 10 categories.

“In the midst of all this hoopla, it’s sometimes easy to forget the actual experience of shooting a movie,” Mendes said. “I had a kind of director’s paradise in this film that I think I’ll never, ever have again.”

“1917,” which came into the night as the big favorite with nine nominations total, also won outstanding British film, beating nominees “Bait,” “Rocketman,” “For Sama,” “Sorry We Missed You,” and “The Two Popes.”

Another multiple winner is the blockbuster hit Joker, which won three awards including best actor for Joaquin Phoenix, as well as South Korean film Parasite which won two, including original screenplay and film not in the English language.

The Directors Guild of America has weighed in on the race for best director, and giving 1917’s Sam Mendes the top honor for best feature film.

“I was fortunate enough to win this award two decades ago,” Mendes recalling his DGA Awards win for “American Beauty” in 2000. “And I think if I’m honest with myself, I didn’t feel ultimately like I really knew what I was doing. I feel a little bit more like I do now.”

The win is Mendes’ second major guild win of the awards season, making him a solid frontrunner for best director at next month’s Academy Awards. The DGA Awards are often a strong bellwether for the Academy Awards: since DGA started handing out trophies in 1949, the winner has only lost seven times at the Oscars. Additionally, Mendes won best director at the Golden Globes earlier this month.

Other nominees for feature film were Bong Joon Ho for Parasite, Martin Scorsese for The Irishman, Quentin Tarantino for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Taika Waititi for Jojo Rabbit.

Bong Joon-ho’s comedy thriller “Parasite” made history on Sunday night, becoming the first foreign language film to win Screen Actor Guild Awards’ Best Ensemble.

The film’s cast Song Kang-ho, Park So-dam, Choi Woo-shik, Lee Jung-eun and Lee Sun-kyun took the stage to accept the award. “Although the title is Parasite, I think the story is about coexistence and how we can all live together.” Song said via translator Sharon Choi. “But to be honored with the best ensemble award, it occurs to me maybe we haven’t created such a bad movie.”

Parasite’s surprise win puts the film in serious contention for Best Picture at next month’s Academy Awards, where the film is nominated for six categories including Best Director for Joon-ho. Earlier this month, the film won best foreign language film at the 2020 Golden Globes.

In the acting categories, “Joker” star Joaquin Phoenix won best actor, Renee Zellweger won best actress for “Judy,” Brad Pitt took supporting actor for “Once Upon a Hollywood”, and Laura Dern took home supporting actress for “Marriage Story.”

The 26th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were broadcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday in Los Angeles.

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
“Parasite” (winner)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture
Joaquin Phoenix, “Joker” (winner)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture
Renée Zellweger, “Judy” (winner)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Brad Pitt, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (winner)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Laura Dern, “Marriage Story” (winner)Continue reading →

Nominations for the 92nd Oscars were announced on Monday by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, with Todd Phillips’ R-rated superhero smash “Joker” leading the list with 11 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix and Best Director for Phillips.

Three other films scored 10 apiece: Martin Scorsese’s mob drama “The Irishman,” Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and Sam Mendes’ war drama “1917”, all of which in contention for Best Picture.

Among the studios, streaming giant Netflix received 24 noms, the most this year, while Sony Pictures Releasing with 20 noms, followed by Disney with 16. Warner Bros and Fox Searchlight received 12 each.

Actress Issa Rae and John Cho announced the nominations on Monday morning. The Academy Awards is set to air Sunday, Feb. 9, on ABC, live from the Dolby Theater at Hollywood & Highland.

Just as Oscar nominations voting is wrapping up, nominations for the 2020 BAFTAs or British Academy Film Awards has been announced today, Tuesday.

Joker received the most nominations with 11. Not far behind were Martin Scorsese’s epic crime film The Irishman and Quentin Tarantino’s comedy-drama Once Upon a Time in Hollywood with 10 each. Sam Mendes’ epic war 1917 received nine.

All four films, along with Taika Waititi’s comedy-drama Jojo Rabbit, and Bong Joon-ho’s black comedy drama thriller Parasite, will be competing for BAFTA’S Best Film category.

Joaquin Phoenix, who played the title character in “Joker” and who recently won a Golden Globe for best actor in a drama on Sunday is nominated for lead actor, along with Leonardo DiCaprio, Adam Driver, Taron Egerton and Jonathan Pryce.

The 73rd BAFTA Film Awards, which recognise the very best in film of the past year, is set to held on Sunday, Feb. 2 at London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall. The awards will be broadcast on the BBC, with talk show host Graham Norton hosting.

See the full list of nominees below:

Best Film
“1917”
“The Irishman”
“Joker”
“Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood”
“Parasite”

Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which follows an actor and his stunt double as they navigate the changing film industry, took Best Picture in a Comedy or Musical, while Sam Mendes’ late year arrival to the awards season “1917” took Best Picture in a Drama. Mendes and Tarantino also won Best Director and Best Screenplay respectively.

For the lead acting categories, Joaquin Phoenix took Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama for Joker, while Reneé Zellweger won Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama for Judy.

Its also a surprising night for Netflix. Heading into Sundaty’s show, Netflix had 34 total nomination in film and television categories, but in the end won just two: one for Best Supporting Actress, Laura Dern (“Marriage Story”), and another for Best Actress in a TV Drama Series, Olivia Colman (The Crown).

Overall the TV categories were pretty spread out, with two wins each for Chernobyl, Fleabag and Succession.

Here is the full list of winners.

Movies

Best Motion Picture, Drama
“1917”

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
“Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood”

Best Director, Motion Picture
Sam Mendes, “1917”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama
Joaquin Phoenix, “Joker”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Taron Egerton, “Rocketman”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama
Renée Zellweger, “Judy”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Awkwafina, “The Farewell”Continue reading →

The American Society of Cinematographers has revealed its nominees for the 34th annual ASC Awards.

Among the nominees include cinematographer Lawrence Sher, who received his first nominations for Warner Bros’ “Joker”.

Also in contention are Rodrigo Prieto for The Irishman, the epic crime film from veteran director Martin Scorsese, as well as Phedon Papamichael for the James Mangold directed sports action drama Ford v Ferrari. This is Prieto and Papamichael’s third time as nominees.

Robert Richardson received nomination for his work on Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” This is Richardson’s 11th nomination.

Four time winner Roger Deakins received his 16th nomination for the Sam Mendes directed epic war film “1917”. Deakins previously won for “The Shawshank Redemption,” “The Man Who Wasn’t There,” “Skyfall,” and “Blade Runner 2049”

Last November, nominees for TV and documentary categories were announced, with FX’s “Legion” leading the list with two noms for TV, while “Honeyland,” “Anthropocene: The Human Epoch” and “Obscuro Barroco” in the documentary category.

ASC awards is set to take place on Jan. 25 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland, where winners for all categories will be announced.

“Parasite”, one of the awards seasons major contenders, is set to be released in a black and white version at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, The Film Stage reports.

Winner of Cannes’ coveted Palme d’Or, director Bong Joon-ho’s comedy thriller film has so far grossed $127 million worldwide, including more than $20 million in the US, an impressive haul for a foreign-language film.

Attention to the film has intensified over the last few weeks as film the award seasons come into full swing. Up next is this weekend’s 77th Golden Globe Awards, where it is nominated for three awards including Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Foreign Language
Film.

The decision to convert the film in black and white follows previously acclaimed films that received the same treatment. In early 2016, it director George Miller announced the release of the black and white version of his acclaimed action epic “Mad Max: Fury Road”. A year later, James Mangold did the same with “Logan Noir,” the black-and-white version of Logan, the final installment in the Wolverine trilogy.

Bong himself released a black-and-white version of his acclaimed drama drama “Mother” at the Mar Del Plata International Film Festival.

There’s no word yet on whether the version will be available on the film’s Blu-Ray release, which is set on January 28th.

Following the Golden Globes’ nominations this week, it was time for acting branch of the Academy to reveal their list as nominations for the 26th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced on Wednesday.

Danai Gurira and America Ferrera announced the nominations, further narrowing the list of films on a race towards Oscar glory.

In addition to “Irishman,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, it was also a big day for “Parasite,” which became just the second foreign-language film to receive a best cast ensemble SAG nomination.

The 26th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards is set to air live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, January 19, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.